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Friend called me a hypocrite because I don’t want to date men with kids – friendship is now over

amber3902's picture

Sorry this is so long. I made a very good friend at work. We hung out a lot, did play dates with our kids. She was with me throughout my divorce.

Sometimes though she would get real pushy with her advice even when she didn’t know what she was talking about.

For example, when I was going through my divorce, my friend, who knows next to nothing about divorce, would try push her advice on me about the divorce. We would wind up getting into arguments because she didn’t agree with what I was doing.

One example - my attorney told me to ask for alimony. Mind you, I was not planning on collecting alimony, this was merely a bargaining tactic he told me to use to get what I really wanted, which was the house. This is common in divorces, ask for more than what you want and you’ll wind up settling for what you really wanted in the first place. But my friend didn’t understand that concept. She basically said I was a terrible person for asking for alimony, went on and on about how wrong I was. So I stopped telling her about the divorce because I couldn’t trust she wouldn’t attack me for what I was doing. She realized I wasn’t talking to her about it anymore, she apologized and told me I could talk to her and she wouldn’t attack me. Okay, she got better about it, but only for a while.

Another example, I was suspecting something was wrong with my D14, either ADHD, autism or an auditory processing disorder. She was very unsupportive of my concerns.

“Why do you want to find something wrong with her?” she’d tell me, “D14 is just like me, and look at me, I turned out fine. Stop trying to find something wrong with her.”

But I KNEW something was not right with my daughter, and I was determined to get her the help she needed. In the meantime I stopped talking to my friend about D14’s problems. After a while, she noticed I had stopped talking to her about it and told me she was sorry for giving me a hard time about it and wanted to know how things were going with her. "Don't worry," she said, "You can tell me what's going on, I won't attack you."

In the course of our seven year friendship, this would happen every six months to once a year. She’d get real pushy with her advice to the point where I would stop talking to her about whatever the subject was. She’d realize she went too far and would apologize and promise she wouldn't judge or attack me for whatever was going on. Then, months even years later she'd throw it back in my face.

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Last year we had a discussion and she said some really hurtful things to me that was kind of the tipping point for me. I had just got out of a two year relationship with a man that had a 7 year old son. Not only was this guy a guilty/lazy parent, but his job situation was precarious. He was an independent contractor, his work was never steady, he had no benefits, he had never paid taxes, which meant he had never paid into social security.

I broke up with him because not only did he not want to parent his son, his job situation was not good. I was concerned that when we got to retirement age, we were going to end up like his parents. His father never had a steady job, and so his parents basically lived off of his mother’s social security benefits. That future scared me. So I broke up with him.

So I was talking to my friend about things and I told her I wanted to date a guy that had no kids and had a good job. She said I was a hypocrite because even though I have kids, I wanted a man that didn’t have kids. She called me a gold digger because I said I wanted a guy that made at least $50K a year.

She kept going on and on, wouldn’t listen to my reasons WHY I wanted a guy with no kids and a good job. Even though she knew all about the problems I had with my exH, who was terrible with money, and my exBF, who was terrible as a parent.

She went on a tirade, even brining up my D14 again, and that I was wrong for "trying to find something wrong with D14". (Eventually I was proved right about my daughter, a couple of months after this conversation my D14 was diagnosed with an auditory processing disorder.)

Anyway, by the end of the conversation she realized how harsh she was being and apologized, but the damage was already done. Even though I told it was okay, I was still very hurt. I felt like things like this kept happening and I couldn’t keep a friend that I couldn’t talk to because I was afraid she would attack me for what I told her.

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Since that conversation we’ve talked a couple of times. Last phone conversation we had I couldn’t resist telling her I was dating someone who had no kids, was making six figures and that we were planning on moving in together. She seemed happy for me.

Since then we haven’t talked. She texted me back in February to say she hoped I had a good Valentine’s Day. I texted her back, said thanks you too.

My plan was to gradually fade out of her life, but I did not want to become her enemy. I just wanted to maintain a lot of distance.

So now that’s happened. I texted her on Mother Day’s to wish her a Happy Mother’s day but she didn’t text me back. Just today I got curious and went to check out her facebook page. I saw that she had unfriended me. That hurt.

I know I’ve been distant, but to take that step was kind of overboard to me. Even if we don’t talk anymore, did she have to unfriend me?

The only thing I wonder about is should I have confronted her about how bad she hurt my feelings, but then again, I wonder if my words would make any difference? When you talk to her, she just starts talking and talking, she doesn’t let you get a word in edge wise and even when she does it’s like she’s deaf and can’t hear anything you’re telling her. Or maybe she'll apologize, say she was wrong for attacking you, then months later she throws it back in your face and attacks you for it again.

I suppose I don't need friends like this, but it still hurts. My girls miss her and wonder why we don't visit her anymore. I guess I’m just mourning the loss of my friendship with her.

Comments

amber3902's picture

What a great analogy! Thanks Kristinch, what a great way to view things.

Now I just need to find me a couple of good roots. Smile

amber3902's picture

Thanks, you're right that she valued only her own feelings and opinions. She often presented her opinions as if they were fact, which was very frustrating.

She once told me I should stop taking my allergy shots because they were bad for me and contained steroids. Well, I went and asked my allergy doctor and she told me no, they did not contain steroids, only the things I was allergic to in order to build up my tolerance to those things.

TASHA1983's picture

You had a very toxic relationship with this woman...she did you a favor. Smile

RedWingsFan's picture

^^^yep

amber3902's picture

"I also think that she possibly unfriended you because she doesn't agree with your decisions and you had distanced yourself anyway so why not? Does that make sense?"

Oh yes, that does make sense. And I really can't blame her, I DID distance myself. She called one time and I didn't answer, and she messaged me once on facebook and I didn't respond, so what did I expect? But even so I don't know why being unfriended bothers me so.

amber3902's picture

No, but at least I can understand WHY I feel the way I do right now. Once I can recognize why I'm feeling what I'm feeling, I can deal with that and move on.

amber3902's picture

Yeah, when she said that it annoyed me so much! So because I have kids I can only date men that have kids?

My kids are well behaved, I don't put them on a pedestal or put their wants before my SO's wants/needs. So dating me shouldn't be a problem. My SO always comments on how well behaved my kids are. I just didn't want to go through dating another disney dad. Granted, just because a guy has kids doesn't mean he's a disney dad, but the chances of him being one are really high.

amber3902's picture

Thanks, doll.

Yes, I am doing SOOOOOOOO much better now! I also wonder if my looks might have had something to do with it.

Not trying to toot my horn, but I'm 36 and often get mistaken for being much younger. I'm 5'4", 110 pounds, with long black hair and Halle Berry skin tone. Meanwhile, my friend is a little bit over weight, never wears makeup or jewelery and dresses in baggy t-shirts and baseball caps. Not that I ever tried to make her feel bad about her looks, but I think just the simple fact that in social settings I was always the one getting all the attention and she wasn't may have made her feel bad about herself. Didn't help that she was always putting herself down, either.

amber3902's picture

"She says she turned out fine, but I would argue that point."

Right! My whole thing was, she kept saying my D14 was just like her, but my friend was never diagnosed with kind of learning disability or anything at all, so how does she know D14 is "just like her"? Again, talking about things she knows NOTHING about.

And you're right, my friend to this day has problems. She doesn't know what certain words mean, or certain grammar rules, which affects her when she has to compose emails. Her parents never got her help in school so she wound up dropping out of high school. Yes, she has a job now, but her brother got her that job. If she ever gets laid off from that job she's going to have a hard time finding another one without a high school diploma.

amber3902's picture

"These kind of people are those that act like they care about you and then fish for information to use to judge you on the way you live."

OMG, you are so right! That's was her to a T. She acted like she was concerned, that I could trust telling her things, then later on if she didn't like what I was doing she'd throw it back in my face.

Most of the time she wasn't like that, like I said, this would only happen maybe once a year. But after the third or fourth time of this happening, I got fed up. That was when I decided to start distancing myself from her.

DarkStar's picture

Amber does your current SO have any friends???? Maybe a brother or cousin or something? Wink
I posted my own blog today about my breakup and the first thought I had was that I am NEVER NEVER dating a guy with kids again! Same with that financial stuff......if he isn't AT LEAST as financially responsible as I am, then hit the bricks, pal!

I just love people that have no experience with something, yet feel that we want to listen to their ignorant, inexperienced advice.

I think your friend just liked hearing your stories, then passing judgment on them. Makes her feel important and smart.

amber3902's picture

I replied on your blog about my SO's friends. Yes, there ARE men out there with no kids.

"I just love people that have no experience with something, yet feel that we want to listen to their ignorant, inexperienced advice."

That's what burned me up about her advice. She knew NOTHING about what she was talking about. She always harped about how vaccines were the reason her son was mentally delayed, then one day we talking and she told she smoked when she was pregnant with him! :jawdrop: She had an older son that she didn't smoke with when she was pregnant, and he turned out fine, but she wants to blame vaccines for why her second son is delayed when it's her own fault for smoking when she was pregnant with him!! Sad

"I think your friend just liked hearing your stories, then passing judgment on them. Makes her feel important and smart."

I think you are right about that.

WarmBody's picture

I hate two faced liars and cowards that do everything in a passive aggressive way. I'm sorry you put so much time and effort into someone who wasn't worth it. (Hugs)